New Survey from Curalate Finds 76% of Consumers Purchase Products They Discover on Social Media, across All Social Channels

PHILADELPHIA–(BUSINESS WIRE)–#productdiscovery–A new survey released today by Curalate
highlights how social media content has become the new storefront, with
76% of U.S. consumers purchasing a product that they discovered in a
brand’s social media post. The 2017
Curalate Consumer Surveyalso found that 40% of U.S.
consumers shop online at least once per week, a number that rises to 52%
for 18-34 year olds. Given that consumers spend more time on social
media than any other online activity, this new survey offers new
insights into the growing and changing role played by social in digital
commerce.

Product discovery happens across all social media channels, illustrating
the need for brands to create compelling content for each channel. While
more consumers in general discover products on Facebook than any other
channel, younger consumers are much more likely to discover products
across the whole range of social channels:

18-34 year old consumers are 3.3 times more likely to discover
products on Instagram than U.S. consumers on the whole.

Younger consumers are 3 times more likely to discover products on
Snapchat; 2.7 times more likely on Pinterest; and twice as likely on
Twitter.

The data presented in this report highlights an evolution taking place
in digital commerce. Traditionally e-commerce has been rooted in
consumers searching for products that they knew they wanted.
Today content posted on social media causes consumers to stop scrolling
and ask “what’s that?” creating moments of discovery which
represent a huge opportunity for e-commerce.

While social media content is great at sparking inspiration, that
inspiration can sometimes quickly turn to frustration for many online
shoppers. Sixty-five percent report being taken to a product they
weren’t interested in after clicking on a link in a social media post.
Often the specific product the brand links to is not the one that caught
the consumer’s eye in the first place. Curalate’s own data
shows that when given the opportunity to shop all of the products in a
particular post – and recommended products – consumers browse longer and
spend more.

Other key takeaways from the survey:

It’s not just younger people shopping through social. Nearly 60% of
35-65 year olds have purchased something they discovered on a social
channel.

50% of consumers say user-generated content (UGC) is the leading
factor that would make them purchase through a brand’s social media
channels.

85% of daily online shoppers say that an easy payment system with
their information already stored (like Amazon Pay) would make them
more likely to shop through social media.

“With billions of people inhabiting social networks, the content they
thumb through has the potential of setting in motion a journey that
leads from discovery to purchase,” said Curalate CEO Apu Gupta.
“Creating those moments of discovery represents a massive opportunity
for e-commerce to go beyond search and to introduce people to their next
great find.”

About Curalate

Curalate
is a leading marketing technology company that enables brands to sell
online more effectively. The Curalate Discovery-Driven Commerce Platform
is in use by 800+ of the world’s most loved brands including Urban
Outfitters, Neiman Marcus, Sephora and J.Crew, touching hundreds of
millions of consumers, monthly. With Curalate, brands grow engagement
and revenue, at scale, utilizing compelling lifestyle content from a
wide variety of sources, including user generated content (UGC).